Structured document data, contents processing method, program for implementing that process, and storage medium storing program

ABSTRACT

This invention provides structured document data and a contents processing method, which can assure high versatility and process each individual required information using an application corresponding to processing performance in each device, so as to solve the problems in the aforementioned conventional description method. Structured document data according to this invention has designation information that designates an item position of a list held in a first document element which holds item information associated with a reference destination of contents as a list, and a second document element that holds information required to present the contents at the reference destination described in the item information corresponding to the designation information.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a description method of a structureddocument described using, e.g., XML or the like.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

A HTML document is described, as shown in FIG. 1. In a browser (device)such as a personal computer (PC) or the like, a processor parses suchHTML document, and passes the parsing result to an application. Theapplication processes to determine how to display the HTML document onthe basis of the passed data.

However, the HTML document shown in FIG. 1 is premised on that theprocessor parses all elements of such HTML document and the applicationprocesses based on the parsing result. In other words, the devicerequires a large-scale application that can process the entire HTMLdocument so as to understand the HTML document.

As a related art of the HTML document, an XML document is known. CSS2and XLS are used as style designation languages for this XML document.However, since each of these style designation languages designates astyle by referring to tags in a specific XML document, they cannot copewith XML documents with different tag descriptions, resulting in poorversatility.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides structured document data and a contentsprocessing method, which can assure high versatility and process eachindividual required information using an application corresponding toprocessing performance in each device, so as to solve the problems inthe aforementioned conventional description method.

Structured document data according to the present invention comprisesdesignation information that designates an item position of a list heldin a first document element which holds item information associated witha reference destination of contents as a list, and a second documentelement that holds information required to present the contents at thereference destination described in the item information corresponding tothe designation information, and in that the second document element isdescribed in a format separated from the first document element.

A contents processing method according to the present inventioncomprises a parsing step of parsing structured document data havingdesignation information that designates an item position of a list heldin a first document element which holds item information associated witha reference destination of contents as a list, and a second documentelement that holds information required to present the contents at thereference destination described in the item information corresponding tothe designation information, a reference instruction step of issuing areference instruction of the item position of the list held in the firstdocument element in accordance with a parsing result in the parsingstep, an acquisition step of acquiring contents referred to in thereference instruction step, and a processing step of processing thecontents acquired in the acquisition step on the basis of theinformation required to present the contents at the referencedestination in the second document element parsed in the parsing step.

Other features and advantages of the present invention will be apparentfrom the following description taken in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings, in which like reference characters designate thesame or similar parts throughout the figures thereof.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute apart of the specification, illustrate embodiments of the invention and,together with the description, serve to explain the principles of theinvention, in which:

FIG. 1 shows a description example of a conventional structureddocument;

FIG. 2 shows an example of a description of a structured documentaccording to the present invention;

FIG. 3 shows a use example of a structured document according to thepresent invention;

FIG. 4 shows a use example of a structured document according to thepresent invention;

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing the arrangement of each device; and

FIG. 6 is an operation processing flowchart of each device.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Preferred embodiments of the present invention will now be described indetail in accordance with the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 2 shows a description method of a structured document according toan embodiment of the present invention. In a structured document of thisembodiment, an ‘mdf:collection’ element, ‘mdf:presentation’ element, and‘mdf:interaction’ element are described in a format separated intoindividual parts (sibling relationships) in place of a parent-childrelationship. Note that the description of the structured document shownin FIG. 1 complies with XML.

In FIG. 2, the ‘mdf:collection’ element plays a role of storingcollection information (list information) of a common function of thestructured document in this embodiment. More specifically, an elementcorresponding to an ‘mdf:collection’ tag in FIG. 2 holds a list of itemsindicating media types of contents to be referred to and URIs ofreference destinations as “collection”.

The ‘mdf:presentation’ element describes information associated withpresentation (more specifically, information associated withpresentation of contents such as an image for thumbnail display, printdata for color print, print data for monochrome print, an audiodescription file for an audio interface, and the like) as a commonfunction of the structured document in this embodiment. For example, anelement corresponding to an ‘mdf:presentation’ tag of the structureddocument shown in FIG. 2 designates the display position and size of animage by a field ‘imagex=“100” y=“200” width=“200” height=“150”’. Also,a field ‘src=“xpointer(//OBJECT[@type=image/jpeg] [current_position()+1])”’ holds information that refers to the first one of items of alist held by ‘mdf:collection’ element since the type of contents(attribute of media type) is ‘image/jpeg’ and current_position( ) is 0(designates the position in a list upon classification based on thetypes of contents).

On the other hand, ‘mdf:interaction’ holds information associated withsecurity or information associated with control such as a job ticket asa common function of the structured document in this embodiment. Anelement corresponding to an ‘mdf:interaction’ tag in FIG. 2 holds a‘printcount’ element as access management information associated withthe remaining printable count, and an ‘owner’ element as ownerinformation of the structured document.

FIGS. 3 and 4 show processing examples of respective devices using thestructured document of this embodiment. FIG. 5 shows a general hardwarearrangement of devices 101 to 106 shown in FIGS. 3 and 4. FIG. 6 showsan operation processing flowchart in each device.

Referring to FIG. 5, a CPU 201 reads out and executes a predeterminedprogram from a ROM 203 so as to systematically control the respectiveunits of the device, thus implementing various processes. A RAM 202provides a work area required for processes by the program. The ROM 203stores various programs, as described above, and especially has adocument parser 203 a for parsing a structured document as acharacteristic program of this embodiment. Respective devices havedifferent application programs according to their purposes as a deviceapplication 203 b. Assume that each device has a analysis program whichcan understand a markup language “mdf”. An input device 204 comprises akeyboard, mouse, cross-cursor keys, and the like. An external storageunit 205 is used to mount a detachable nonvolatile memory card. Adisplay unit 206 displays contents by a presentation method processed bythe aforementioned application program. An I/F (interface) 207 is usedto connect an external device or the Internet or the like.

The operation process by each device shown in FIG. 5 will be explainedbelow with reference to FIG. 6. In step S101, the document parser 203 aparses the structured document of this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 2,to convert it into objects. In step S102, an application unique to eachdevice is executed. In step S103, the structured document is dynamicallychanged in accordance with the processing result of the application instep S102.

A processing example in respective devices when the structured documentof this embodiment is used offline will be described below using FIG. 3.FIG. 3 will explain a processing example when a JPEG-compressed imagefile is stored in a memory card as contents together with the structureddocument of this embodiment.

Initially, in FIG. 3, a personal computer 101 comprises deviceapplications associated with the collection element, presentationelement, and interaction element of the structured document of thisembodiment. More specifically, in the following description, a contentsdelete/add function corresponds to a device application 203 b associatedwith the collection element, an image edit/display function (e.g., adigital photo album) corresponds to a device application 203 bassociated with the presentation element, and a print count limitfunction corresponds to a device application 203 b associated with theinteraction element.

In FIG. 3, assume that the PC (personal computer) 101 stores astructured document file shown in FIG. 2 and JPEG files as contents in amemory card.

Also, assume that this memory card is attached to a digital camera 102.At this time, assume that ‘image0001.jpg’ of JPEG files in the memorycard is deleted by the function of the device application in the digitalcamera 102. The description in the structured document shown in FIG. 2is modified in correspondence with this process of the deviceapplication. More specifically, a description <object type=“image/jpeg”src=“/image0001.jpg”/> is deleted. However, since the presentationelement of the structured document of this embodiment has a descriptionthat designates the item position of a list in the collection element,the digital camera 102 need not modify the presentation element upondeletion of contents. In other words, the digital camera 102 need nothave any image display/edit function.

Also, when a new JPEG file is added by the photographing operation ofthe digital camera 102, <object type=“image/jpeg” src=“/image0004.jpg”/>need only be added to the structured document, and the digital camera102 need not have any image display/edit function.

Assume that the memory card is attached to a layout edit device 103after the processing in the digital camera 102. When image display editcontents are modified by the process of the device application of thelayout edit device 103 while a description <object type=“image/jpeg”src=“/image0001.jpg”/> is deleted, the description of the presentationelement in the structured document is changed in correspondence withthat modification. For example, when the device application executes aprocess for changing display from ‘image0002.jpg’ to ‘image0003.jpg’,the description of the presentation element is changed like:<imagex=“100” y=“200” width=“200” height=“150”sec=“xpointer(//object[@type=image/jpeg] [current_position( )+2])”/>That is, since the position of the item of the list in the collectionelement is designated, the layout edit device 103 need not install anydevice application that deletes ‘image0001.jpg’.

Assume that the memory card is attached to a printer 104 with a cardslot after the process in the layout edit device 103. The printer 104executes a print process in correspondence with the processes by thedigital camera 102 and layout edit device 103. After execution of theprint process, <printcount>3</printcount> as the interaction element inthe structured document is modified to <printcount>2</printcount>. Thatis, the remaining printable count is limited from three to two.

As described above, with the structured document of this embodiment,appropriate processes can be executed without increasing applicationfunctions of respective devices.

A processing example in respective devices when the structured documentof this embodiment is used online will be described below using FIG. 4.More specifically, in FIG. 4, a PC 101, printer 104, and display device106 are connected online. In FIG. 4, assume that a structured documentand JPEG files as contents are downloaded from a server 105 to the PC101 via a network (e.g., the Internet or the like) in advance.

The structured document downloaded to the PC 101 does not include anydescription <mdf:presentation> of the presentation element shown in FIG.2. The printer 104 and display device 106 respectively store structureddocuments with corresponding descriptions of the presentation element.

Assume that a print instruction is output from the PC 101 to the printer104. In the printer 104, the document parser 203 a parses thepresentation element of the structured document held by itself. Thedevice application 203 b transmits a command that refers to the itemposition of the list included in the collection element described inthis presentation element to the PC 101 as a result of parsing. The PC101 transfers contents (JPEG file) corresponding to the item position ofthe list corresponding to the command transmitted from the printer 104to this printer 104. The printer 104 executes a print process of thetransferred contents on the basis of a description of an edit process ofthe presentation element.

A process in the display device 106 is executed in the same manner asthat in the printer 104. Assume that a display instruction is outputfrom the PC 101 to the display device 106. In the display device 106,the document parser 203 a parses the presentation element of thestructured document held by itself. The device application 203 btransmits a command that refers to the item position of the listincluded in the collection element described in this presentationelement to the PC 101 as a result of parsing. The PC 101 transferscontents (JPEG file) corresponding to the item position of the listcorresponding to the command transmitted from the display device 106 tothe display device 106. The display device 106 executes a displayprocess of the transferred contents on the basis of a description of anedit process of the presentation element held by itself.

As described above, since a device having the presentation element makesa description that designates the item position of the list held in thecollection element, a device that holds contents can hold the contentsirrespective of the specification and processing mode of a contentstransfer destination (the device having the presentation element). Thatis, a device that processes contents (the device having the presentationelement) holds a structured document that describes the correspondingpresentation element, thus allowing easy management of contents.

As described above, using the structured document of this embodiment,each device need not hold excessive applications, and appropriateprocesses can be done among devices.

Other Embodiments

Note that the present invention can be applied to an apparatuscomprising a single device or to system constituted by a plurality ofdevices.

Furthermore, the invention can be implemented by supplying a softwareprogram, which implements the functions of the foregoing embodiments,directly or indirectly to a system or apparatus, reading the suppliedprogram code with a computer of the system or apparatus, and thenexecuting the program code. In this case, so long as the system orapparatus has the functions of the program, the mode of implementationneed not rely upon a program.

Accordingly, since the functions of the present invention areimplemented by computer, the program code installed in the computer alsoimplements the present invention. In other words, the claims of thepresent invention also cover a computer program for the purpose ofimplementing the functions of the present invention.

In this case, so long as the system or apparatus has the functions ofthe program, the program may be executed in any form, such as an objectcode, a program executed by an interpreter, or scrip data supplied to anoperating system.

Example of storage media that can be used for supplying the program area floppy disk, a hard disk, an optical disk, a magneto-optical disk, aCD-ROM, a CD-R, a CD-RW, a magnetic tape, a non-volatile type memorycard, a ROM, and a DVD (DVD-ROM and a DVD-R).

As for the method of supplying the program, a client computer can beconnected to a website on the Internet using a browser of the clientcomputer, and the computer program of the present invention or anautomatically-installable compressed file of the program can bedownloaded to a recording medium such as a hard disk. Further, theprogram of the present invention can be supplied by dividing the programcode constituting the program into a plurality of files and downloadingthe files from different websites. In other words, a WWW (World WideWeb) server that downloads, to multiple users, the program files thatimplement the functions of the present invention by computer is alsocovered by the claims of the present invention.

It is also possible to encrypt and store the program of the presentinvention on a storage medium such as a CD-ROM, distribute the storagemedium to users, allow users who meet certain requirements to downloaddecryption key information from a website via the Internet, and allowthese users to decrypt the encrypted program by using the keyinformation, whereby the program is installed in the user computer.

Besides the cases where the aforementioned functions according to theembodiments are implemented by executing the read program by computer,an operating system or the like running on the computer may perform allor a part of the actual processing so that the functions of theforegoing embodiments can be implemented by this processing.

Furthermore, after the program read from the storage medium is writtento a function expansion board inserted into the computer or to a memoryprovided in a function expansion unit connected to the computer, a CPUor the like mounted on the function expansion board or functionexpansion unit performs all or a part of the actual processing so thatthe functions of the foregoing embodiments can be implemented by thisprocessing.

As many apparently widely different embodiments of the present inventioncan be made without departing from the spirit and scope thereof, it isto be understood that the invention is not limited to the specificembodiments thereof except as defined in the appended claims.

CLAIM OF PRIORITY

This application claims priority from Japanese Patent Application No.2003-208411 filed on Aug. 22, 2003, the entire contents of which arehereby incorporated by reference herein.

1. A computer-readable storage medium on which is stored structureddocument data executable by a contents processor, the structureddocument data comprising: a first document element that holds a list ofitems, each item indicating a reference destination of a content; and asecond document element that holds designation information fordesignating an item position of the list of items in the first documentelement, and presentation information to present a content at thereference destination described in an item corresponding to the itemposition of the list of items, wherein the first and second documentelements are described in separate formats as separate sections in thestructured document data, wherein, in executing the structured documentdata, the contents processor i) parses the structured document data, ii)references the item position of the list in the first document elementin accordance with the designation information in the parsed structureddocument, iii) acquires a content at a reference destinationcorresponding to the referenced item position, and iv) processes theacquired content on the basis of the presentation information to presentthe acquired content.
 2. The computer-readable storage medium accordingto claim 1, wherein the second document element refers to the item heldin the first document element based on a type of content.
 3. Thecomputer-readable storage medium according to claim 1, wherein a thirddocument element that holds security information is stored in adifferent part in the structured document.
 4. A contents processingmethod comprising: a parsing step of parsing structured document datahaving a first document element that holds a list of items, each itemindicating a reference destination of a contents, and a second documentelement that holds designation information for designating an itemposition of the list of items in the first document element, andpresentation information to present a content at the referencedestination described in an item corresponding to the item position ofthe list of items; a reference step of referencing the item position ofthe list in the first document element in accordance with thedesignation information in the structured document data parsed in theparsing step; an acquisition step of acquiring a content at a referencedestination corresponding to the item position referred in the referencestep; and a processing step of processing the content acquired in theacquisition step on the basis of the presentation information to presentthe content acquired in the acquisition step.
 5. The method according toclaim 4, wherein the second document element refers to the item held inthe first document element based on a type of content.
 6. The methodaccording to claim 4, wherein a third document element that holdssecurity information is stored in a different pan in the structureddocument.
 7. A computer-readable storage medium, on which is stored acomputer program for implementing a contents processing method,comprising: program code to implement a parsing step of parsingstructured document data having a first document element that holds alist of items, each item indicating a reference destination of acontent, and a second document element that holds designationinformation for designating an item position of the list of items in thefirst document element, and presentation information to present acontent at the reference destination described in an item correspondingto the item position of the list of items; program code to implement areference step of referencing the item position of the list in the firstdocument element in accordance with the designation information in thestructured document data in the parsing step; program code to implementan acquisition step of acquiring a content at a reference destinationcorresponding to the item position referred in the reference step; andprogram code to implement a processing step of processing the contentacquired in the acquisition step on the basis of the presentationinformation to present the content acquired in the acquisition step. 8.A structured document data generation method for generating a structureddocument data formed of a plurality of function elements, comprising: adesignation information generation step of generating a first documentelement that holds a list of items, each item indicating a referencedestination of a content; and a presentation information generation stepof generating a second document element that holds designationinformation for designating an item position of the list of items in thefirst document element, and presentation information to present acontent at the reference destination described in an item correspondingto the item position of the list of items, wherein the first and seconddocument elements are described in separate formats as separate sectionsin the structured document data.